This section is intended to introduce the reader to various aspects of art that may be related to various aspects of the present disclosure, which are described and/or claimed below. This discussion is believed to be helpful in providing the reader with background information to facilitate a better understanding of the various aspects of the present disclosure. Accordingly, it should be understood that these statements are to be read in this light, and not as admissions of prior art.
Personal emergency response systems are alarm systems designed to summon emergency medical personnel in the event of an emergency. Elderly people and disabled people who live alone commonly use personal emergency response systems. Personal emergency response systems are typically monitored by a central control center. Users typically must subscribe to services offered by personal emergency response system monitoring service providers.
In cases of emergency, such as after a fall or a suddenly appearing ailment, a subscriber of a personal emergency response system can trigger an alarm event by pressing a button on a subscriber device. Typical subscriber devices include pendants worn around the neck, wristbands, or other devices that are carried by a subscriber. The device typically has a wireless transmitter that can be activated by the subscriber in the event of an emergency.
In some systems, when an alarm event is triggered, the transmitter sends an alarm to a central monitoring station. Medical personnel are then dispatched to the site where the alarm was activated. In other systems, there is no central monitoring system, and the subscriber simply programs the numbers of family members, neighbors, or local emergency responders.
Monitoring services for personal emergency response systems generally consist of a call center staffed by trained professionals. These professionals are available at all times to receive calls. Some monitoring services employ trained medical staff as call center operators, which enables the monitoring service to better evaluate a subscriber's medical requests. Monitoring services can be quite expensive, thereby driving up the cost of subscribing to a personal emergency response system.
Some personal emergency response systems are used not only for emergencies, but also as a means to conveniently ask questions about concerning symptoms, or for help with day-to-day activities such as shopping, cleaning, or to arrange for transportation.
Those skilled in the art will appreciate that personal emergency response systems can be used for a multitude of applications. However, the cost of monitoring services can limit the scope of services offered. There exists, therefore, a need for a more cost effective means for providing comprehensive personal emergency response system services. Additionally, there exists a need for a personal emergency response system that recognizes various types of alarm events and directs the various alarm events to the appropriate party or parties.
Those skilled in the art will further appreciate that access to information about a subscriber and the subscriber's health conditions can enable medical professionals, caregivers, family members, and emergency response teams to be more responsive in a given situation. Despite advances in technology, personal medical information tends to be fragmented among several parties. This is especially true for medical information that is not formally documented. For example, friends, family members, or caregivers may acquire an intimate awareness of a person's medical history based on an accumulation of knowledge over a period of ongoing interactions. Other medical professionals may not have access to this information unless there is an opportunity to converse directly with such friends, family members, or caregivers. Similarly, medical professionals have knowledge and information that could benefit or improve the effectiveness of the day-to-day care activities provided by such friends, family members, or caregivers. Furthermore, information can be obtained from various auxiliary devices used to monitor the health status of a patient or environmental factors around the patient's residence. This information, however, is not readily accessible by parties in remote locations. Given these shortcomings, there exists a need for a personal emergency response system that enables the sharing of information in order to help personal emergency response system responders to be more responsive to various situations in which personal emergency response systems can be used.
These and other problems concerning personal emergency response systems represent long-felt yet unmet needs. Therefore, systems and methods for solving the aforementioned problems are desirable. The embodiments disclosed herein have the potential to provide meaningful benefits to subscribers of personal emergency response systems, health care providers, physicians, insurance companies, emergency dispatch centers, and personal emergency response system service providers.